Membership Management Software for Nonprofits: Why Is It a Necessity?

Nonprofits deal with a number of donations frequently, especially if they follow the subscriptions model. It is challenging to handle recurring donations without a reliable system in place. Manual management of payments is not only error-prone, but also time consuming.

For nonprofit organizations to focus on their membership goals, a relief from tedious administrative tasks is required. That is where membership management software comes in. A robust membership handling software can greatly reduce the administrative burden by automating workflows.

Beginning from the basics…

What is Membership Management Software for Nonprofits?

A membership management software is a member handling platform which equips organizations with all the tools they need for keeping their members engaged and organized. For nonprofits, membership management is necessary for keeping track of their donors’ activities.

Additionally, it helps them keep a record of all of their donors’ data, such as contact and payment information. This information can be used to contact one-time donors for encouraging them to become members. It can also help nonprofits curate personalized messages and emails that would boost the morale of the donors and make them feel valued.

Moreover, an advanced membership management software allows nonprofits to automate their key tasks, such as payment collection, subscription renewals, and member communication. Such a software also offers smart reporting and analytics, providing nonprofits with insights into their donor behavior, and inclinations.

All in all, a membership management software is a great investment for nonprofits. It not only gives a high return on investment by strengthening the nonprofit’s workflows, but also delivers an exceptional member experience.

What to Look for in a Membership Management Software?

For nonprofits seeking a membership management software to streamline operations, it is crucial to know exactly what features to look for in one. It is important to understand that every nonprofit has its own unique needs. Therefore, when it comes to a membership management software, there is no size that fits all.

It is a great practice to list out all the things you need assistance with, and then match your needs with the features a software offers. It is also important to list out all the outcomes you expect to get, and communicate those with the vendor. This helps clarify your demands and expectations from the get-go, and increases the chances of you landing on a software built for your needs.

Below are some of the most crucial aspects that nonprofits should generally seek in a member handling software:

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1. Member Database

Member database is truly a valuable feature for nonprofits. It allows them to store all the donor information into one place in an organized manner. This database is readily accessible whenever information is required.

An advanced database forms the foundation of a nonprofit’s operations, since most of them rely on member data. It enables organizations to track their members’ activities, levels of engagement, and trends in behavior. These insights can lead to the creation of fruitful fundraising campaigns, and donor engagement events.

Nonprofits can also create different membership levels, and assign them to the donors. The donors can then be segmented on the basis of their membership levels inside the database.

2. Online Membership Forms

Creating attractive and convenient membership forms is essential, as it is one of the first interactions your nonprofit makes with a potential member. And as the saying goes, first impressions matter! So make sure your donors have a smooth and hassle-free onboarding experience.

Choose a membership management software which empowers you to create sign up forms tailored to your nonprofit. Make all the necessary customizations you need to make your forms catchy, and frictionless. These forms are usually linked to your database, so that member information automatically gets transferred there without manual intervention. 

3. Intuitive User Interface

A user-friendly interface is a must for easy adaptation to the software, and quick workflows. This is even truer for nonprofits who are newly-established, and are looking for non-technical and straightforward solutions.

Intuitive dashboards are easy to navigate for your staff, and do not require technical expertise prior usage. It means that your staff will take less time to come to terms with the software, and spring into action quickly. 

4. Email Marketing

Go for a membership management software which offers built-in or integrated email-marketing tools. These tools help you establish effective communication with your donor base. You can keep them in the loop in case of events, or fundraising alerts. Personalize emails for each member to make them more relevant, and for better impact. 

5. Event Management

Utilize event management features within your management software. They assist you with generating and assigning tickets to each member, creating beautiful registration forms, and automating event reminders. You can even create member exclusive events to make your existing members feel special, and the non-member donors feel motivated to join the membership.

6. Automated Operations

It is crucial to go for a platform which automates your workflows for improved efficiency, and accuracy. Automate mundane tasks which take up a lot of time and manual labor, and watch your team’s productivity grow. Tasks such as membership renewals, payment reminders, donation scheduling, event management etc. can all be made to run on autopilot. 

7. Payment Processing

An advanced membership management software provides you with expert payment processing capabilities. It makes donation and membership fee collection frictionless. Let your customers enjoy seamless donation giving by automating donation collection from their bank accounts. Automation ensures member convenience, and ascertains that the payments are never missed.

It is even better to choose a software which supports automated recurring donations, so that you establish a stable donation stream in a hassle-free manner. Make sure your software offers the payment methods more suited to your donor base. 

8. Third-Party Integrations

If your nonprofit leverages third party software for various operations, such as CRM, or accounting platforms, then it is necessary to find a management software with expert integration capabilities. This ensures that all your data is unified into one platform, and you do not have to go back and forth to fetch accurate data. 

9. Reports and Analytics

Donor behavior, event attendance rates, member engagement levels, etc. are significant insights to keep your organizational performance in check. An advance membership management software equips you with these insights via its reporting and analytics tools. You can also get to measure your key metrics, such as member churn rate, member lifetime value, monthly or annual revenue etc.

Nonprofits can leverage this data to tailor their marketing campaigns, and activities accordingly. So that they can meet the expectations and preferences of their members better.

Benefits of Using Membership Management Software for Nonprofits

Membership management software exists to make the life of your nonprofit easy, and more productive. Following are some major advantages that your organization can avail with a suitable management platform:

• Error-Free Workflows

Relying on spreadsheets and handling data manually, especially large data volumes can prove costly. That is because manual data entry is always error prone. Inaccurate data can have a negative impact on your campaigns, and financial dealings with members.

Members are valuable donors. Their loyalty demands trust on your side, especially trust in handling their donations the right way. Therefore, it is necessary to keep your records accurate and generate error free financial statements with the help of a robust membership handling platform.

• Time Saving

Manual management of donor data, member onboarding, donation tracking, member communication, renewals, etc. is very time consuming. Why invest in people to do these routine jobs, when you can invest in a reliable software instead? Utilize your team members to work on refining your nonprofit’s strategy and goals.

Come up with effective ways to keep your members retained, motivated, and productive. Leave the technical side of the things to your management software. 

• Improved Member Engagement

It is a tiresome task to manually send personalized messages to each and every member of your nonprofit. You may get the details wrong, or you may not be able to match the message timings for all your members. To keep communication and member engagement consistent, error-free, as well as personal, leverage your membership handling platform’s communication tools. After all active member engagement is key to member retention.

Automated communication to your entire donor base also ensures that you do not miss out on messaging or emailing even a single one of your donors. This means that you also do not miss out on any potential opportunity to turn your donors into members. The right message at the right time is key to acquire more members from your donor base. 

• Advanced Data Access

Smart membership management solutions give you access to insightful data, such as member activities and preferences. You can also use this data to find out the factors behind member churn if there is any. This knowledge will assist you into addressing those factors effectively, and coming up with solutions well-tailored to your members.

Why SubscriptionFlow Is the Top Membership Management Solution for You?

You can manage members and donations for your nonprofit easily with SubscriptionFlow. Get tailored solutions to match your welfare organization’s goals. SubscriptionFlow addresses all the pain points in the donation management operations, ensuring a smooth transaction experience for your members.

With SubscriptionFlow you get access to advanced features like:

Dynamic Payment Choices

Let your donors decide how they pay! With SubscriptionFlow, you can offer your donors fixed donation options, as is the norm with donation websites, and a choose-your-own donation feature as well. Providing various payment options is key to attract more donors to your cause.

Multi-Step Form Interface

SubscriptionFlow lets you provide your donors with a multi-step form interface, which is increasingly user-friendly. With this kind of interface, you can break down a long questionnaire or form into smaller chunks. These chunks appear step-by-step, and can be identified through step indicators (such as Step 1 of 5).

Step-forms have a higher completion rate, since they save users more time and cognitive effort. Using step-forms improves donor experience, and speeds up the membership registration process. These forms can be used for donation collection as well.

Support for Multiple Payment Types

SubscriptionFlow supports various donation types such as one-time and recurring donations. Accommodate different donor preferences by giving them both the options. Donors can choose to make a one-time payment for convenience, if they do not want to make a long-term commitment. Recurring payments, meanwhile, are a key source of donation for non-profit companies.

SubscriptionFlow automates the process of recurring donations, generating a consistent income flow for your organization. It helps members commit to your cause, and establishes predictable donation streams for your campaign.

Moreover, SubscriptionFlow caters to diverse payment methods like e-wallets, credit cards and bank transfers. It also supports global currencies, and multiple payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal and Authorize.net for seamless transaction processes across the globe.

Comprehensive Reports and Analytics

Track member behavior, donation data updates, and the overall health of your fundraising campaigns via SubscriptionFlow’s reports and analytics tool. Utilize these insights to optimize your nonprofit’s performance. Find out areas of improvement and strategize accordingly.

Member’s Portal

Enable your members to manage their memberships without any hassle. They can view their membership plans, donations, pending payments and anything else that you want to display. They can upgrade their membership plans, switch to another plan, make profile changes, and seek additional information. Offering members their own portals is an impactful way to keep them engaged and satisfied.

So what are you waiting for? Book a demo with SubscriptionFlow and unlock stellar membership management for your nonprofit today!